Full-fashioned stocking and process of producing the same



March M, 1950 2,5,63l

E. DOURA FULL FASHIONED STOCKING AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed NOV. 50, 1945 INVENTOR Emilio .Douza ATTORN'SMAI Patented Mar. 14, 1950 FULL-FASHIONED'STOCKINGAND PROCESS OF PRODUCING THE SAME Emilio Doura, Buenos Aires, Argentina Application November 30, 1945, Serial No. 631,982

2 ,Claims.

This invention relatesto an improved full fashioned stocking-and to a process of producing it and ishereinillustrated in some detail as embodie'dilin I a woman s stocking and :a process for making it-wherebythe manufacture of such'stockings iis simpli'fied and the quality improved and the resistance to wear'is alsoiimproved.

-According to the :present :invention it is no longer necessary to :m-anufacturewomens stockings ontwodilferent and separate flat-bed knittingmachines'nam'ely the machine that produces the leg, =calle'd "the legger, and the machine that producescthev foot; oalled theifooter. According to the present invention the legger maydo' the compiste-work ofknitting- -both the leg and the foot in arsingle operation ofw-hichrtheaduantages will heneinafterappear.

1; eordinary processof. knfttinga stecking'on th we machines, the'.lessenandthe-cfootenfthe transfer of the stitches from one machine .to the other makes it almost impossible to get-a perfect match of stitch -and-color between the silkthat was-knit in the'leg and t-h-atwhichisknitin the foot. -The=transfer of stitches from the needles of the legger machine .to the needles of the footer machine is called topping and that topping causes the difference in the shade and the-shape of the fabric-ini'the finished stocking. Moreover, during the operation of transferring thestitches of theleg portion to the'foot machine, thereis' great likelihood of droppinga stitch.- or of arstitch runningwith the result that: many stock-i ings are damaged and second quality hosiery is produced.

Accordingto the process of the present invention, these inconveniences are avoided. The leg part and the foot part areknitted continuously on ithe legger machine insuch away that when the operation has reached the lower edge of the high spliced heel theproper setting of the yarn carriers starts the formation of a rectangular fabric on each side of the stocking omitting the reinforcement fromithe'stitches which had been incorporated inbeginning the-knitting f th h h spliced .heel.

This rectangular fabric knitted only with the leg portion yarn is continued for-'8 or courses with a width a few needles narrower than the widthof the splicingatthat part of the stocking=so that the stocking fabric is reinforced by those few'needlesadjacentithe usual leg portion yarn Ifabric.

Then the carriers of the reinforcement yarns are put back into operation and the knitting of the reinforced splicing is resumed at the full width of the original reinforced area.

After knitting about 4 courses of this reinforced fabric, a course of loose yarn stitches of leg yarn material free of the reinforcing is produced on both sides of the stocking the same width as the width of the rectangular unreinforced stitches mentioned above. Following this course the knitting of the stocking with reinforced stitches is resumed to form the instep, sole and toe. These 4 courses of'reinforced fabric between the unreinforced area and the course free of the reinforcing prevents the running or falling of the stitches when the sides are cut ata line-which will be described indetail below.

Accordingto this invention it is possible to produce a-foot blank wider on-the lowerportion of the leg blank, thus providing a wider fabric which fits the circumference of the-womens feet in -a more comfortable manner and preventing the tensions and stretches which ordinarily produc premature breakage.

This production of a wider foot blank is obtained by permitting the yarn carriers which are knitting the unreinforced rectangular fabric to work successively on a wider range of needles. To accomplish this thecarriers are preferably mechanically combined with the narrowing mechanism of the leg knitting machine iii-such a Way that at every second course the yarn carriers displace two needles outwardly on each side. The unreinforced area according to this phase of'the invention is no longer rectangularbut of irregular shape, the width of the fabric being many needles wider than at the starting point so that itis possible to obtain a wider foot part, better suited toproduce wearing qualities.

The stocking 30 produced in both forms lacks the heels which are hitherto applied separately on an-auxiliary machine called a heeling machine. Accordingto'the present invention this producing of heels iseffected on the footer machine which with some slight modification produces the required'heel tabs.

The present invention makes-i-t possible to utilize'the'footer machine byitransferring the stockings from the legger to the footer by catching the stitches of the last or next to the-last reinforced courseof the high heel on combs or'on bars provided with pointed needles along'eachend, there being as many needles as the width of the'heel to be knitted. The sides of the stocking are preferably caughton said needles at the line where the first unreinforced course starts. The bars are placed at the footer machine and the stitches transferred to its needles so that the heel is started as a continuation of the high heel.

After the heels are produced in this way the 3 stockings are taken to a looping machine where the inner selvedge of the heel tabs is linked or looped to the loose course of stitches free of the reinforcement mentioned above.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a fragmentary leg and foot as it comes from the legger machine.

Fig. 2 shows the stocking after the heels have been knit on the footer machine.

Fig. 3 shows the foot being knitted wider than the leg.

Fig. 4 shows the same after adding the heels.

Fig. 5 shows a finished stocking.

The leg part of A of the stocking in Fig. 1 continues without interruption forming part B which becomes the instep of the foot but on each side of the stocking the high heels H are knit with the leg yarn plus a reinforcing yarn. The yarn carriers providing these reinforcing yarns are thrown out of operation so that the leg yarns knit the unreinforced rectangular area E for about courses so that adjacent the instep a few needles knit in the reinforcement but most of the reinforcing is omitted.

After the 10 unreinforced courses are knit a single course of stitches a is knit with the le yarns alone, free of the reinforcing yarns, usually about 4 courses below the 10 unreinforced courses mentioned above.

After knitting the stitches a, knitting is continued normally to make the instep B, the reinforced sole S and the reinforced toe T.

The stocking blank so produced on the legger machine is transferred to or topped onto a comb which has pointed needles near each of its ends, said needles being sufficient to provide the width of the heel to be knitted. This transferring or topping is effected on the last course or the next to the last course 1 of the high heels H in Fig. l r

by the needles of a topping stand and the rectangular sections E are cut at their upper edge e, thus permitting the foot part of the stocking to fold over and backward. The cut stocking is transferred to the topping bars so as to render possible the placing of this topping bar with its stocking on the needles of the footer machine and on that machine knitting the heel tabs that appear on Fig. 2.

To facilitate this operation the footer machine may have its central needles, sinkers and dividers removed in the central section while knitting the heel tabs for each stocking. The knitting of the heel tabs proceeds normally after adjusting the yarn carriers and setting them at the required width of the heel.

It will be noted that by first severing the stocking at the lines e, e in Fig. 1 and then knitting the heels it became possible to do away with the need of the special flat knitting machine called 4 duce the trapezoid-shaped unreinforced area with an inclined outer edge w, w.

To obtain this the carriers of the narrowing mechanism are so adjusted that the carriers slide out at each one or two courses 2 needles on each side of the stocking. This widening of the foot is possible according to the present invention because the fabric E Jil is cut simultaneously with the linking operation and the inner edges of the heel tabs are knitted first to the edges b',a of the narrow reinforced zone forming a continuous linkage or seam forming the angular corner of Fig. 5.

After knitting the leg blank of Fig. 3 the heels are knit as those described above and a stocking blank like Fig. 4 is produced. This blank is taken to a linking machine where the edges 0 ,0 of the heels are joined with the lines a l; producing the stocking of Fig. 5.

Having thus described certain embodiments of the invention, what is claimed is:

1. The process of producing a stocking for women which includes knitting yarn to form a leg part, continuing knitting the yarn to form a foot including knitting reinforcing yarns along each edge, said edge including an unreinforced widening zone of about ten courses of leg yarn and a narrow reinforced zone of said ten courses between the reinforced area and the front of the foot, cutting the unreinforced zones, transferring the stocking to the needles of a footer machine, knitting the heels on said machine, linking'the inner edge of each heel to the edge of said narrow reinforced zone to form a short seam, and thereafter linking the remainder of the heel edge to the reinforced edge at the bottom of the .unre-Tf inforced zone to continue the-short seam at;an-

other angle, and form a-topping corner with it.

2. A stocking for women including a knittedyarn leg part, a foot part knitted with said yarnv plus knitted-in reinforcing yarns along each edge, said edge including an unreinforced wideningzone of about ten courses of leg yarn and a narrow reinforced zone of said ten courses between the unreinforced area and the front of the foot, a heel knitted to the edge of the severed unreinforced zone and also knitted to the edge of each said narrow reinforced zone and further linkedto the short reinforced edge left at the bottom of the several unreinforced zone so as to continue beyond the short edge to continue the short seam at another angle and form a topping corner with EMILIO DOURA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 22,257 Kugelman et a1 Jan. 26, 1943 2,027,781 Lieberknecht Jan. 14, 1936 2,065,979 Lieberknecht Dec. 29, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 448,854 Great Britain June 12, 1936 457,813 Great Britain Dec. 7, 1936 460,614 Great Britain Feb. 1, 1937 669,994 Germany Jan. 9, 1939 

